"I think perhaps I'll go and see Justine and Lydia" "Who are they?"...With a good forecast, and the household authorities otherwise engaged for the weekend, I had to find my own entertainment. Fortunately, the last weekend in September held plenty of promise - with good weather forecast, and the annual open day at Alan Keef's loco works in the Forest of Dean. The nearby Perrygrove Railway would be offering their Enthusiasts' Afternoon too...An added incentive at Keef's would be the presence of "Justine", the nicely-restored little Arn. Jung 0-4-0 (939 of 1906) which we had seen the previous weekend at Toddington, posing on the freight train. She hadn't moved while we were there - perhaps today would be a chance to see her in action. So it proved -

though, of course, her turn came when I was half-way through my lunch (those hot pork and stuffing baps again...).Inevitably, as well as the steam action on the short running line, there was plenty of interest in and around the works. The frames of a pair of metre-gauge Krauss well tanks stood inside (5742 of 1908 and 3142 of 1894) - clearly both will need a lot of work, one needing a new boiler. Amongst the interesting items outside were a new coach for the Perrygrove line and a chunky Deutz single-cylindered diesel, for sale and, I believe, already sold as I write.Last time I was at Keef's, a new locomotive "Lydia" was under construction for Perrygrove. Today at Perrygrove, Lydia was in action. By all accounts, Lydia has been a great success - certainly she sounded very well on the steeply-graded sections of the line with a clear, sharp exhaust. Perrygrove is, of course, home to an impressive collection of original and replica Heywood "Minimum Gauge Railway" equipment, including James Waterfield's lovely "Ursula" - the 3-coach vintage train hauled by Ursula makes a fine sight (and sound). Not forgetting the original steam loco "Spirit of Adventure" taking her turn on the "normal" passenger workings.Enough for now - if you've never been, keep an eye on the Keef website for the date of next year's open day - put it in your diary and visit these fascinating sites.